Economy
Asian Shares Close Broadly Higher
By Investors Hub
Asian stocks ended broadly higher on Thursday after the U.S. midterm elections delivered no big surprises.
While a split Congress is expected to halt any major advances in President Donald Trump’s economic agenda, Republicans expanded their majority in the Senate, overcoming historical political headwinds.
Traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve?s monetary policy announcement for new clues as to whether the U.S. central bank will signal a December rate hike.
Chinese stocks fell slightly even as data showed Chinese exports and imports both increased more than expected in October.
China’s exports grew 15.6 percent annually, while economists had forecast an increase of 11.7 percent. Imports surged up 21.4 percent compared to the forecast of 14.7 percent. As a result, the trade surplus came in at $34 billion in the month versus the expected level of $35.1 billion.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dipped 5.71 points or 0.2 percent to 2,635.63, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 80.03 points or 0.3 percent to 26,227.72.
Japanese shares posted strong gains to hit a 2-1/2-week closing high as investors cheered the U.S. midterm election results. The Nikkei 225 Index jumped 401.12 points or 1.8 percent to 22,486.92, and the broader Topix Index soared 1.7 percent to 1,681.25.
Exporters Canon, Honda Motor and Sony rose 1-3 percent. Banks Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial climbed around 2 percent. Toshiba skyrocketed 12.7 percent after it unveiled a new five-year business strategy and announced a share buyback.
In economic news, the value of core machine orders in Japan plunged 18.3 percent sequentially in September, the Cabinet Office said, coming in at 802.2 billion yen. That was well shy of expectations for a decline of 9.0 percent following the 6.8 percent increase in August.
Another report showed that Japan had a current account surplus of 1,821.6 billion yen in September, down 19.3 percent from last year. The trade balance showed a surplus of 323.3 billion yen, shy of expectations for 334.2 billion yen.
Australian markets eked out modest gains, led by healthcare, banking and energy stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 31.30 points or 0.5 percent to 5,928.20, while the broader All Ordinaries Index ended 0.6 percent higher at 6,015.90.
Healthcare stocks led the surge, with CSL, Cochlear and Resmed jumping 1-2 percent. Energy stocks posted modest gains despite oil prices falling to a nearly eight-month low.
News Corp. surged up 4.2 percent after its fiscal first quarter earnings topped forecasts. REA Group, the owner of real estate portal realestate.com and majority owned by News Corp., soared 8 percent after its first quarter profit rose 23 percent on a 17 percent increase in revenue.
Meanwhile, lender NAB lost 3.6 percent on going ex-dividend, while the other three big banks shot up around 2 percent each after the banking regulator proposed hiking capital requirements.
Mining giant BHP Billiton eased 0.2 percent after it secured exploration blocks in offshore eastern Canada. James Hardie shares slumped 14.7 percent after the building materials group cut its full year forecast range, citing uncertain conditions in its key U.S. market.
Economy
BNB Price Reflects Changing Dynamics in the Digital Asset Market
Economy
NASD Unlisted Security Index Crosses 4,000-point Benchmark Again
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange achieved a milestone on Friday, April 24, 2026, after five securities on the platform helped with a 1.85 per cent growth.
Data showed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) again crossed the 4,000-point benchmark yesterday.
The index chalked up 73.64 points during the trading day to close at 4,052.59 points compared with the preceding session’s 3,978.95 points, while the market capitalisation added N5.38 billion to finish at N2.424 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N2.380 trillion.
The price gainers were led by Okitipupa Plc, which grew by N25.00 to sell at N305.00 per share compared with the previous price of N280.00 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N6.92 to close at N76.26 per unit versus N69.34 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by N1.00 to N17.00 per share from N18.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by 55 Kobo to N99.55 per unit from N99.00 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc increased by 5 Kobo to N2.70 per share from N2.65 per share.
However, there was a price loser, MRS Oil, which dipped by N21.75 to N195.75 per unit from N217.50 per unit.
During the final session of the week, the value of securities jumped 75.2 per cent to N41.3 million from N23.6 million units, and the number of deals expanded by 62.9 per cent to 44 deals from 27 deals, while the volume of securities declined marginally by 0.9 per cent to 447,403 units from 451,522 units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
GNI was also the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units transacted for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Economy
Naira Slips to N1,358/$1 as FX Reserves, Policy Uncertainty Concerns
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira in the currency market on Friday, April 24, as its value depreciated against the major foreign currencies at the close of transactions.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), it lost N4.53 or 0.33 per cent against the United States Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,358.44/$1, in contrast to the N1,353.91/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.
Equally, the domestic currency slipped against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.14 to close at N1,834.02/£1, compared with the previous rate of N1,825.88/£1 and dropped N8.01 against the Euro to sell at N1,590.73/€1 versus N1,582.72/€1.
Also, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX desk on Friday by N4 to quote at N1,370/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,366/$1, and at the parallel market, it depleted by N5 to settle at N1,380/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,375/$1.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that NFEM interbank turnover surged to N43.562 million across 68 deals, up from N28.117 million the previous day.
Despite the CBN’s reassurance that the recent drop in external reserves is not worrisome, the market remains unsettled by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market as gross reserves continue to decline to $48.4 billion.
The outlook for the Dollar appears supported by broader macro risks, including elevated oil prices tied to the tanker traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a continued US-Iran standoff over ceasefire negotiations.
A look at the digital currency market showed that investors are sitting on the edge as the US Dollar rebounded amid geopolitical and inflation risks despite continued inflows into US spot bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Solana (SOL) rose by 1.2 per cent to sell $86.45, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.2517, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.9 per cent to $0.0989, Ripple (XRP) improved by 0.3 per cent to $1.43, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.2 per cent to $2,316.83, and Binance Coin (BNB) chalked up 0.1 per cent to sell for $637.44.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $0.3235, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to close at $77,562.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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